Four policies HUD secretary can enact now

During his speech Monday to employees of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, HUD secretary Ben Carson commented that the department is well-positioned to influence the country.

In this aspect, the HUD secretary and Nela Richardson, chief economist for Redfin, an online real estate company, agree. Richardson pointed out that income inequality and affordable housing are at the worst levels ever seen in the U.S.

In her blog, Richardson calls for long-term solutions to bring affordable housing to the middle class.

Sponsor Content

Here are the four policies Richardson says Carson could put into place right now to begin to heal the affordability crisis in America:

1. Create a national housing plan

Richardson explains the HUD secretary can reframe the housing crisis into an economic issue with regional and national importance.

2. Increase the use and subsidy amount of housing vouchers

Many needs for federal assistance go unmet, she writes. HUD could increase programs to help working families make a better life.

3. Encourage deregulation of restrictive zoning rules

HUD can look at policies to change communities to inclusionary zoning practices by offering federal infrastructure investments to improve the neighborhoods.

4. Champion investments through the low-income housing tax credit program

Related Articles

Kelsey Ramírez is a Reporter at HousingWire. Ramírez is a journalism graduate of University of Texas at Arlington. Ramírez previously covered hard issues such as homelessness and domestic violence and began at HousingWire as an Editorial Assistant.

This month inHousingWire magazine

The appraisal industry is in the midst of huge disruption as automated valuation models and hybrid appraisal products gain favor with regulators and investors. What does the future hold for appraisers and appraisal companies as they adjust to the new realities of automation?

Feature

[Free HousingWire Magazine read] As Millennials grapple with paying off student loans, their opportunity to buy a home gets pushed further and further into the future. That delay has consequences far beyond individual students — the growing student debt crisis impacts every part of the economy.

Commentary

There has been a conscious and rapid shift to broaden the use of alternative valuation products for origination. Not every decision needs a $500, full-blown 1004 interior appraisal. And in some markets where appraisers are short in number, the turn times can stretch from days to weeks. What these new alternative — some would say disruptive — valuation products do is enable lenders and servicers to better match the product to the risk by harnessing big data and technology.